Demographic realities

Mar 29,2018 – JORDAN TIMES EDITORIAL

According to Israeli sources, the number of Jews and Arabs living between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River is now at or near parity.

The population statistics, mentioned in an Israeli parliamentary statement on Monday, indicate that there are about 2.5 million to 2.7 million Palestinians living in the West Bank, in addition to 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and 1.84 million Arab Israelis. The total Palestinian population is estimated at 6.5 million in the three territories.

Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) concluded that the total Palestinian population in the aforementioned areas equals the number of Israeli Jews living between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River.

These demographic realities would make any talk about creating a binational democratic state in Israel impossible or rather impractical, even from the point of view of Israelis, who seek and insist on having a strictly Jewish homeland in Israel.

Given the fact that the birth rate among the Palestinians is so much higher than the Jewish rate, time would be on the side of the Arab Palestinians should a binational state comprising Jews and Arabs living in the same country is established.

The only other functional option is the two-state solution that the Arab side has been advocating for years now. When it is established beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jews and Arabs cannot live peacefully together under one roof for an extended period of time, dividing the territory between them offers the only remaining solution.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants neither solution and, instead, he aims for a permanent confrontation between the two peoples. This is a prescription for war and destruction for generations.

Only the Israeli people can change this forecast by choosing different leadership.